RIP, WFB (1925-2008)
On a May morning in 1989, my world collided briefly with William F. Buckley Jr. The influential conservative was the commencement speaker at my small catholic university. Having just completed my junior year, I was tasked driving him to and from the ceremony. Buckley, emerging from a sleek jet, hopped in the back seat uttering a brief hello. Twenty-five miles later and minutes from campus, Buckley, rifling through a well-worn Louis Vuitton duffel, realized he’d left his commencement gown and colors on the plane. Leaving him to explain to my boss, I raced back to the airport, retrieved the gown from plane and with minutes to spare bounded into the church. Graduation in those days was managed by a Benedictine monk, Brother Stephen. He grabbed the black gown from my hands and began ironing it. I will never forget seeing Buckley race up to him and say in his achingly apparent accent and now famed sharp tongue, “Hold on a minute…It’s meant to be worn wrinkled.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 5:06 pm and is filed under Personal Reflection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
As a new US citizen my first encounter with political campaigns were with Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley. I worked for both campaigns and will never forget Bill Buckley’s comment when asked by a TV reporter: “What will be your first step if elected mayor of New york City?” Mr. Buckley replied: “I will demand a recount”